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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowNine school districts across Indiana are asking voters to approve an increase to their property taxes or continue a referendum tax levy.
Most of the funding requests would go to paying teachers and other staff, according to the spending plans filed by each school corporation. Without approval for these new levies, suburban and rural districts alike say they will be forced to cut staff and likely see an increase in the number of students in a classroom.
“If the community votes no to supporting our schools, we will be forced to significantly reduce programing and services across our academics, the arts and athletics,” said Brown County Schools Superintendent Emily Tracy in a public message about the $15.1 million operating referendum on the November ballot for the district that serves 1,569 students. “We will be forced to freeze salaries and wages for our staff and cut positions across the entire district.”
School districts are also voicing concern that voters may misunderstand the public question on the ballot of whether to approve a property tax referendum. Last year, a law was enacted that requires the ballot question include the estimated average percentage of property tax increase paid to the school district if the levy is approved.
For the Metropolitan School District of Wabash County, the estimated average percentage increase is listed as 124.5% on the public question. School leaders worry voters will take that estimated amount for the much lower increase to their own property tax.
“The referendum question on the November 8th ballot is misleading!” reads material from Wabash County schools.
The district is seeking a $115 million capital referendum to fund a new high school that could serve up to 600 students, among other facility renovations. If approved, homeowners will see their property tax rate increase by 61.44% — that’s a rate of $0.83 raising to $1.34 per $100 of assessed value.
Westfield-Washington Schools described its $61 million referendum question in Hamilton County as “very misleading” because the tax rate of the current levy would be reduced by $0.03.
Terry Spradlin, executive director of the Indiana School Boards Association, agrees with the districts.
“We do believe the language is confusing and certainly misleading to taxpayers,” he said, noting that most voters would be paying far less in new taxes on an approved levy than the amount of the estimated average increase listed on the ballot question.
“We think there’s better language, more appropriate or suitable language that could be put on the ballot,” he said.
Spradlin said his association and others will push for a change to the law in the legislative session next year. He’d rather the question include a precise dollar amount of a proposed property-tax increase based on the median home value in the school district community.
Indiana’s property taxes are capped at assessed value rates based on the type of property: 1% for owner-occupied homes, 2% for other residential properties and farmland, and 3% for all other property. But if voters approve a local referendum, a property tax bill can exceed the cap and the extra taxes go to the local school district.
Here’s the local public question for school referendums on November ballots. The totals for operation levies are based on the net assessed valuation of taxable property in the district boundary earlier this year. That value can change.
MSD of Wabash County, Wabash County
Property tax rate: $0.8300 cents per $100 of assessed valuation for eight years
Project total: $115,000,000
For: Build a new 165,000-square-foot high school at a cost of more than $72 million for students in grades 9-12 to open for the 2027-28 academic year. Major renovations at Northfield Jr./Sr. High School and Southwood Jr./Sr. High School to become buildings for preschool to grade 8 students. Find out more at the district website here.
Brown County Schools, Brown County
Property tax rate: $0.1200 per $100 assessed value for eight years
Project total: $15,140,096
For: An operating referendum approved in 2016 is coming to an end. This new levy would increase the current tax rate by $0.04 per $100 of assessed property value. The majority of the new funds will go to teacher and staff salaries. Without it, the district says it will be forced to cut $1.2 million from the annual budget, lay off some staff and freeze wages. Find out more at the district website here.
Delphi Community School Corporation, Carroll County
Property tax rate: $0.2032 per $100 assessed value for eight years
Project total: $9,598,120
For: Funding daily educational operations, academic and support programs ($4 million), attracting and retaining teachers ($2.4 million), and managing class sizes ($1.6 million) and other expenses. Find out more at the state website here.
Fremont Community Schools, Steuben County
Property tax rate: $0.1963 per $100 assessed value for eight years
Project total: $20,360,896
For: A renewal of 2015 referendum at the current rate. It would fund salaries for current staff and attracting teachers and staff ($12 million); academic programming ($4 million), and managing class size and other operational expenses. Find out more at the state website here.
Medora Community School Corporation, Jackson County
Property tax rate: $0.50 per $100 assessed value for eight years
Project total: $1,554,000
For: Transportation of students ($652,400), attracting and retaining of certified teachers and classified staff ($1 million), and other academic needs. Find out more at the state website here.
Monroe County Community School Corporation, Monroe County
Property tax rate: $0.1850 per $100 assessed value for eight years
Project total: MCCSC did not respond with the annual amount that would be generated by the referendum by deadline.
For: Nearly all the funds will go toward teacher and staff pay. If approved, teachers will get salary increases of $4,500 and support staff wages will increase by $2.25 per hour. Find out more at the district website here.
MSD of Southwest Allen County, Allen County
Property tax rate: $0.15 per $100 assessed value for eight years
Project total: $51,245,496
For: A renewal of a referendum approved first in 2009 and renewed in 2016. The levy would fund district staff, including dozens of current teachers, guidance counselors and a school resource officer ($33.1 million). It would also fund approximately 14 new classroom teachers ($9.1 million), two security personnel and seven guidance counselors/social workers ($6.1 million), among other academic needs. Find out more at the district website here.
Southern Wells Community Schools, Wells County
Property tax rate: $0.127 per $100 assessed value for eight years
Project total: $4,241,584
For: A renewal of a referendum approved first in 2016. It would fund the current salaries of six teachers, two instructional assistants and a custodian, plus cover the expenses for career and technical education classes at the high school. Find out more at the district website here.
Westfield Washington Schools, Hamilton County
Property tax rate: $0.17 per $100 assessed value for eight years
Project total: $61,038,144.00
For: A renewal of a referendum approved first in 2016 but at a rate reduced by $0.03. It would fund retaining and attracting teachers and staff ($40 million); managing class sizes ($16 million), and funding academic and educationally related programs at current levels ($5 million). Find out more at the district website here.
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It’s important for people to know that a great deal of this – referendums – is the result of an unintended consequence that resulted from the property tax caps. Because while the caps helped to fix a problem, it has taken revenue away from local units of government, including schools. School corporations, by and large, are responsibly managing the public monies entrusted to them. A well performing school corporation is a huge factor in influencing the quality of life within a community. I’d encourage anyone who REALLY wants to understand what is going on with their schools, attend a school board meeting, volunteer at one of your schools or reach out to the school board member that represents the district or township, or anyone on the Board, including the president or write a note to the superintendent of your schools. It’s been my experience those people care far more about the job they’re doing than they get credit for.
Excellent comment, because “it’s complicated”. So much is taken by federal taxes, we forget how important our local entities are to us, and how they are supported, with schools, local tax levies, frozen by the legislature. It is so easy to feel the pinch of $1,500 more in property assessment and ignore the $15,000 that came out of personal income you never get to see. That $15,000 is so far away, that complaining can be safely ignored by the bureaucrats that spend it.
I disagree that it was an unintended consequence. I’d argue it was very much intended to defund and restrict local government, pushing more control to the Indiana legislature which has very much shown that they feel the educational system doesn’t need any more money, regardless of how far behind Indiana falls behind other states in any number of metrics.
The only education groups they’re interested in giving money to are churches and their charter school donors.
What are the schools doing with all the money they’re getting from the increased assessed value of homes? I know I’m paying an extra $1,500 a year due to my increased assessment.
Probably keeping up with the same inflation as everyone else…
I see both sides of this but it is not a good time to be asking for a referendum. Taxpayers are getting hammered enough with the current economic conditions. As a former teacher and school board member I see the big picture and there are needs and wants and am pretty sure all of what is being asked for are not all needs. I bet there is some fat that can be trimmed … I really shudder when I see requests to spend more money on things like security personnel, more administrators, etc. Many good comments on this and we need to support public education while also being practical and using common sense.
When property tax caps were proposed, politicians said the state would replace the lost local revenues. That promise was not kept.
The state now has a HUGE surplus but still refuses to catch up on all the funding cuts and refusals to keep up with inflation of the last 15 years. If our state legislature and the last 3 Governors had kept the promise to replace property tax revenues with state dollars, it’s doubtful any local community would be forced to seek property tax referenda to keep pace with costs.
The pandemic forced many new sanitation and technology costs on schools. Staff illnesses forced additional costs to hire hard-to-find substitutes. It’s no surprise that test scores have suffered. It’s time to catch up, but the overwhelming Republican majorities in both houses of our legislature have not risen to the need and apparently won’t unless voters send them a huge message this election day that voters have had enough of unkept promises.